Sea urchins are animals commonly found on the Brazilian shoreline, being Echinometra lucunter the most abundant species. Accidents caused by E. lucunter have been reported as one of the most frequent in Brazil, a...

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are glutamate receptors that play vital roles in central nervous system development and are involved in synaptic plasticity, which is an essential process for learning...

Among the hymenopteran insect venoms, those from social wasps and bees – such as honeybee, hornets and paper wasps – have been well documented. Their venoms are composed of a number of peptides and proteins an...

More than 1.2 million scorpion stings occur annually worldwide, particularly in tropical regions. In the absence of proper medical care, mortality due to venomous scorpion stings is an important public health ...

On June 9th, 2017 WHO categorized snakebite envenomation into the Category A of the Neglected Tropical Diseases. This new situation will allow access to new funding, paving the way for wider and deeper researches...

The gamma-type phospholipase A2 inhibitor (PLIγ) is a natural protein commonly found in snake serum, which can neutralize pathophysiological effects of snake venom phospholipases A2. Therefore, this protein is a ...

Snake venoms are a complex mixture of proteins, organic and inorganic compounds. Some of these proteins, enzymatic or non-enzymatic ones, are able to interact with platelet receptors, causing hemostatic disord...

Because jellyfish are capable of provoking envenomation in humans, they are considered hazardous organisms. Although the effects of their toxins are a matter of concern, information on the venom components, bi...

Vector-borne diseases are important public health issues and, consequently, in silico models that simulate them can be useful. The susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model simulates the population dynamics o...

Venoms represent a still underexplored reservoir of bioactive components that might mitigate or cure diseases in conditions in which conventional therapy is ineffective. The bradykinin-potentiating peptides (B...

Urease from Canavalia ensiformis seeds was the first enzyme ever to be crystallized, in 1926. These proteins, found in plants, bacteria and fungi, present different biological properties including catalytic hydro...

Scorpion envenomation is a public health problem, especially in tropical and subtropical countries. Considering the high incidence of scorpionism in some areas, pregnant women and nursing mothers may be possib...

Major drawbacks of the available treatment against Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) include its toxicity and therapeutic inefficiency in the chronic phase of the infection, which makes it a concern am...

Mass spectrometry-guided venom peptide profiling is a powerful tool to explore novel substances from venomous animals in a highly sensitive manner. In this study, this peptide profiling approach is successfull...

Snakebite treatment requires administration of an appropriate antivenom that should contain antibodies capable of neutralizing the venom. To achieve this goal, antivenom production must start from a suitable i...

In this paper we discuss recent significant developments in the field of venom research, specifically the emergence of top-down proteomic applications that allow achieving compositional resolution at the level...

This work offers a general overview on the evolving strategies for the proteomic analysis of snake venoms, and discusses how these may be combined through diverse experimental approaches with the goal of achie...

Dengue virus infection can have different complications; the best known is hemorrhagic dengue fever. However, other effects such as neurological disorders may endanger the lives of patients. Dengue neurologica...

Globally, snake envenomation is a well-known cause of death and morbidity. In many cases of snakebite, myonecrosis, dermonecrosis, hemorrhage and neurotoxicity are present. Some of these symptoms may be provok...

Hemostatic and adhesive agents date back to World War II, when homologous fibrin sealant came onto scene. Considering that infectious diseases can be transmitted via human blood, a new heterologous fibrin seal...

The five-paced pit viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus), endemic to China and northern Vietnam, is responsible for most snakebites in the Chinese territory. Antivenom produced from horses is the main treatment for snak...